The Same Old Songs

Michael Jackson’s 25th Anniversary of “Thriller” contains a DVD that includes his legendary performance (modesty be damned, that’s what it says – “Legendary Performance”) of “Billie Jean” from “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.” That was after he sang a Jackson 5 medley with his brothers, who quietly took off when it was finished. He wore a sequined glove, which within minutes would become his trademark. In the other hand was a microphone: “Those were good songs – I like those songs a lot,” he said. “But especially,” he concluded, “I like the new songs.” Then the music played and nothing would ever be the same.

This was in 1983, when “Billie Jean” actually was a new song. What made it so big (or “legendary,” if you insist) was that it signaled his transformation from a child star to a mature entertainer with a promising future. “Thriller” had an outstanding, almost fearless sound to it – it was the sound of an artist who had something to prove.

He had a chance to prove himself again in his later years, but took the easy way out by asking fans to pay $19.98 (make that $29.98 if you’re partial to the Deluxe Casebook Edition) for the same old songs that didn’t even cost that much when they were new.

It was marketed as “The World’s Biggest Selling Album of All Time,” which is kind of self-cancelling if you think about it. You’ve probably got it already, so what’s the point of buying it twice? Come to think of it, maybe you’ve already bought it a couple of times without even realizing it: All the key tracks from “Thriller” are available on at least three different “Greatest Hits” albums, which at least took the trouble of mixing them up with other records. They’re designed with a kind of finesse – “Thriller 25” was designed with artless greed.

A few bonus tracks were put together for the 25th Anniversary Edition, but they don’t deserve to be in the same company as the hits that inspired them. Some of them are even kind of dreadful: The 2008 version of “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” with will.i.am has an ultramodern tone that’s interesting but wrong, all wrong.

As for “Billie Jean 2008 – Kanye West Mix,” it sounds like Kanye has the right idea – don’t try to make it fresher if you got it right the first time. Same deal with Fergie on “Beat It 2008.”

But it’s Akon’s version of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” that soars above the others. He plays around with the rhythm and, surprisingly, he gets away with it. It just plain works.

There’s a larger issue here, though. Even though there was a time when this guy was the man, he must have lost his way at some point in his life. Marketing schemes like “Thriller 25” made him look desperate for easy money, almost as if…yes, as if he heard the door slam and realized there was nowhere left to run.